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International Journal Of Engineering And Computer Science ISSN:2319-7242
Volume 4 Issue 4 April 2015, Page No. 11466-11468

Ethical Hacking
Deepak Kumar1, Ankit Agarwal2, Abhishek Bhardwaj3
1

IP University, Sirifort College of Computer Technology and Management

8, Institutional Area, Rohini Sector-25, New Delhi
deepakkumar2294@yahoo.com
2 IP University, Sirifort College of Computer Technology and Management
8, Institutional Area, Rohini Sector-25, New Delhi
ankit96505@gmail.com
3 IP University, Sirifort College of Computer Technology and Management
8, Institutional Area, Rohini Sector-25, New Delhi
abhi14.amity@gmail.com

Abstract: Today, security is the main problem. Almost all the work is done over the internet crucial data are sent over the web
and other information is placed over internet. While all the data is available online, there are many type of users who interact
with data some of them for their need and others for gaining knowledge that how to destroy the data without the knowledge of
the owner. There are various techniques used for protection of data but the hacker (or cracker) is more intelligent to hack the
security, basically there are two categories of hackers that are different from each other on the basis of their intensions. The
one who has good intensions are known as ethical hackers because they ethics to use their skill and techniques of hacking to
provide security to the sensitive data of the organization. To understand this concept fully we describe introduction about the
hacking, types of hackers, a survey of IC3, rules of ethical hacking and the advantages of the ethical hacking.
Keywords: Ethical hackers, White hats, malicious hackers, Grey hats.
from an on-line shopping site, or implant software that will
Introduction
secretly transmit their organization information to the open
Security is the major fact in todays era where internet use is internet. Cyber Security is the most talked about topic and the
very vast and fast growing. Every organization has issues most concerned area in todays online world.
related to security about their sensitive and confidential data.
This is only because of hacking, Hacking is done by a person Survey on Cyber Security
who has wrong intensions. Basically there are two types of
hackers, one who has rights of securing data while using I noticed on a report from government website that is actually
hacking techniques and the other who uses his knowledge to Internet Crime Current Report. The Internet Crime
break security to harm the organization. These hackers are Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar
categorized into two categories [2]
Crime Center (NWC3).
1. Ethical Hackers
2. Malicious Hackers
Hacking is a process of controlling the system of an
organization without the knowledge of the organization
members. In contrast it is called breaking the security to steal
the sensitive and confidential information such as credit card
numbers, telephone numbers, home addresses, bank account
numbers etc that are available on network. This illustrates that
security is a discipline which protects the confidentiality,
integrity & availability of resources. It refers this era as a
Security Era not because we are very much concerned about
security but due to the maximum need of security [3].It also
explains that the explosive growth of internet has brought
many good things such as electronic commerce, easy access to
vast stores of reference material, collaborative computing, email and new avenues of advertising and information
distribution etc. but there is also a dark side such as criminal
hackers. The government, companies and private citizens
around the world are anxious to be a part of this revolution, but
they are very much afraid that some hackers will break into
their Web Server and replaces their information with
pornography, read their e-mail, steal their credit card number

Figure 1: Complaint Graph of IC3 [7]

The graph (Fig. 1) shows that till year 2009 numbers of

complaint were increased at an exponential rate. But after 2009
it is little down in 2010 but increased in 2011 and is almost the
same in the remaining years. This shows that how much
important the security is in this era of computer world.
The following data (Fig. 2) illustrates that how the IC3 dealt
with the cyber security till their last report.

Deepak Kumar, IJECS Volume 4 Issue 4 April, 2015 Page No.11466-11468

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White Hat Hackers: They are professional hackers. They use

their skill for defensive purpose in purely an ethical way.
Gray Hat Hackers: They are the hackers who are mixture of
both white hat and black hat hackers i.e. work both offensively
and defensively.
RULE OF ETHICAL HACKING:

ABOUT HACKING:Before knowing about the ethical hacking first we have to

know about hacking which is a brainchild of curiosity, As a
Figure 2: the
Complaint
the IC3 [7]
result of curiosity,
hackerReported
alwaysto wants
to know more
about information, depending upon his taste.
Several definitions of hackers are
Hackers are capable individuals with extreme
computer knowledge about software as well as
hardware.
A hacker is a person who enjoys learning the details
of computer systems and enhances his capabilities. He
is a computer enthusiast and extremely proficient in
programming languages, computer systems and
networks.
Popularly, hackers are referred to someone who penetrates into
computer network security systems. Originally, the term
hacking was defined as - A person who enjoys learning the
details of computer systems and how to stretch their
capabilities-as opposed to most users of computers.
Ethical hacking: Ethical hacking is a process in which the
hacker has clear intensions to break computer security to save
the organization from intrusion attacks. They never reveal the
facts and information about the organizations. Ethical hackers
are also known as Red Teams, Penetration Testing or
Intrusion Testing. Malicious hacking [2]: This is the
unauthorized use of computer and network resources.
Malicious hackers use software programs such as Trojans,
malware and spyware, to gain entry into an organizations
network for stealing vital information. It may result to identity
theft, loss of confidential data, loss of productivity, use of
network resources such as bandwidth abuser and mail flooding,
unauthorized transactions using credit or debit card numbers,
selling of users personal details such as phone numbers,
addresses, account numbers etc.

TYPE OF HACKERS:The hackers are categorized above

Figure 3: Types of Hackers

Black Hat Hackers: Their deeds results into destructive

activities. They are also known as crackers.

Black
Hat

White
Hat

Grey
Hat

The hacker must obey the ethical hacking rules. If

they dont follow the rules then it would be dangerous
for the organization.
Execute plan: For the ethical hacker time and patience
is more important [2].
Ethical hacker must have clear intensions to help the
organization not to harm them.
Privacy is the major concern from the organization
point of view, thus the ethical hacker must be kept it
private because their misuse can be dangerous or
illegal.

HACKING PHASES:-

Reconnaissance
Scanning

Gaining Control
Maintaining
Access
Log Clearing
Gaining Acces

Figure 4: Ethical hacking phases

Reconnaissance: It refers to gather as more information as we

can about target in prior to perform an attack. The information
is gathered regarding the target without knowledge of targeted
company (or Individual).It could be done simply by searching
information of target on internet or bribing an employee of the
targeted company who would reveal and provide useful
information to the hacker. This process is also called as
information gathering [2]. It can be Active or Passive.
Scanning: It refers to scan for all the open as well as closed
ports and even for the known vulnerabilities on the target
machine.
Gaining control: It can be gained at OS level, system level or
even network level. From normal access hacker can even
proceed with privilege escalation. It often includes password
cracking, buffer overflows, DoS attack etc.
Maintaining Access: It is where hacker strives to retain it
control over target with backdoors, root kits or Trojans.
Compromised machines can even be used as Bots and Zombies
for further attacks.

Deepak Kumar, IJECS Volume 4 Issue 4 April, 2015 Page No.11466-11468

Page 11467

Log clearing: It is also known as Daisy Chaining. To avoid

being exposed or caught, a good hacker will leave no
impressions of his presence. So he attempts to overwrite the
system and application logs.

internet. Basically this is an invitation to the crackers to gain

access of information. Thus security is the major problem for
the organization. This illustrates the importance of ethical
hackers. For this purpose the organization hires ethical hackers
who are well knowledge and experienced person.

>>Working of an Ethical Hacker:The working of an ethical hacker involves the under mentioned
steps:
1. Obeying the Ethical Hacking Commandments: Every Ethical
Hacker must follow few basic principles. If he does not follow,
bad things can happen. Most of the time, these principles get
ignored or forgotten when planning or executing ethical
hacking tests. The results are even very dangerous.
2. Working ethically: The word ethical can be defined as
working with high professional morals and principles.
Whether youre performing ethical hacking tests against your
own systems or for someone who has hired you, everything
you do as an ethical Hacker must be approved and must
support the companys goals. No hidden agendas are allowed.
Trustworthiness is the ultimate objective. The misuse of
information is absolutely not allowed.
3. Respecting Privacy: Treat the information you gather with
complete respect. All information you obtain during your
testing from Web application log files to clear-text passwords
must be kept private.
4. Not crashing your systems: One of the biggest mistakes is
when people try to hack their own systems; they come up with
crashing their systems. The main reason for this is poor
planning. These testers have not read the documentation or
misunderstand the usage and power of the security tools and
techniques. You can easily create miserable conditions on your
systems when testing. Running too many tests too quickly on a
system causes many system lockups. Many security assessment
tools can control how many tests are performed on a system at
the same time. These tools are especially handy if you need to
run the tests on production systems during regular business
hours.
5. Executing the plan: In Ethical hacking, Time and patience
are important. Be careful when youre performing your ethical
hacking tests.

References
[1] Need of Ethical Hacking in online World (A research paper
by Monika Pangaria&VivekShrivastav),
www.ijsr.net/archive/v2i4/IJSRON2013859.pdf
[2] Ethical Hacking Techniques with Penetration Testing
www.ijcsit.com/docs/Volume%205/vol5issue03/ijcsit2
0140503161.pdf(by KB Chowdappa)
[3] System Security and Ethical
Hackingwww.ijreat.org/Papers%202013/Volume1/IJR
EATV1I1018.pdf
[4] Ethical Hacking by C. C. Palmar, IBM research division
[5] Ethical Hacking by R. Hartley
[6] Compressive Study on Ethical
Hackingwww.ermt.net/docs/papers/Volume_4/1_Janu
ary2015/V4N1-117.pdf
[7] Internet Crime Complaint Centre link: www.ic3.gov

Author Profile
Deepak Kumar Perusing BCA (Final) from
Sirifort College of computer technology and
management, Rohini, Delhi, India.

Abhishek Bhardwaj received the B-tech

Degree from M.D University, and Degree of MTech from Amity University, Noida in the year
2011 and 2013 respectively. From the year 2013
he is working as an Assistant Professor in
Sirifort College of computer technology and management,
Rohini, Delhi, India, till date. He has completed his thesis of
M-tech in the topic IMAGE PROCESSING and has already
published more than 7 papers in international journals.

MAIN BENEFITS OF ETHICAL HACKING:As ethical hacking plays an important role in this security era
where the network users are increasing frequently and also the
hackers who are taking advantages of network while sitting at
their home. The ethical hacking has following advantages [6].
The fight against terrorism and security issues.
Preventing malicious hackers to gain access of crucial
data.
Ethical hackers believe one can best protect systems
by probing them while causing no damage and
subsequently fixing the vulnerabilities found.
Ethical hackers use their knowledge as risk
management techniques.

Ankit Agarwal Perusing BCA (Final) from

Sirifort College of computer technology and
management, Rohini, Delhi, India

Conclusion
As the use of internet increases, everyone becomes dependent
over it and saves their crucial and important data over the
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